In the spirit of Passover when we sing who knows one Monday morning the CCAR conference honored the 610 women who have been ordained since the first, Sally Priesand was ordained in 1972. That makes 611 women rabbis. There are some who thought, “oh if only there were two more then there would be 613, a parallel to the number of commandments!” Then this morning, Rabbi Art Green, Ph.D., taught that the numerical value of the word תורה, Torah, is 611. How much Torah the world has known thanks to the role of women in the rabbinate!

It was an emotional moment for the entire conference and for the Jewish people.